Today was my first day of college and I am so excited to say that I made it through the day without getting lost! Wednesdays are my busiest days, I have all my classes, and I can think of no better way to start off my collegiate experience than knocking out every class on day one. 🙂 While today was my first day of classes, I have been on campus for the past week or so… Here are some of the things I have been doing!
I went through Formal Sorority Recruitment, and tonight was Bid Night! I’m so excited to say that I ran home to Pi Beta Phi and met my Bid Day Buddy, Kelly, who actually was the first person I talked to during recruitment!!! I can’t wait to get to know all 75 girls in my pledge class and get to know the actives. Pi Phi’s Bid Night theme was Pi Phipalooza, which was SUPER fun and had a ton of photo opportunities! This week I have my first Sisterhood event, and I have my pledge ceremony to get my pledge pin!
Also, I went to Torch Night, a UT tradition for freshmen. This tradition has been going on since 1925 and is a night where each fall, upperclassmen symbolically pass on the Torch of Preparation to the incoming class. The torch comes from the Torchbearer and the Torchbearer’s Creed. The Creed is he who beareth the torch, shadoweth oneself to give light unto others. This creed unites the campus to be servant leaders and can be seen in the way Volunteers approach all aspects of their life. Also at Torch Night, every freshman was given a graduation tassel with our graduation year on it, 2021, as a reminder of our goal to graduate and to be used at graduation! After Torch Night, I was even able to snap a pic with Chancellor Davenport. She is such an inspiration and I am excited to be in her first class!
I have already helped paint the Rock and I have been on campus not even 7 days! Tuesday, Student Government hosted Slap the Rock with SGA and it was a ton of fun with paint, handprints, and popsicles! Who wouldn’t have fun painting with handprints, while eating popsicles??? So yes, somewhere under the many layers of paint that have now covered SGA’s painting, my handprint is still there. I guess you could say I’ve already left my mark on UT’s campus!
I also saw the total eclipse on Monday… it was amazing. I had solar eclipse glasses and could watch as the whole sun became completely hidden by the moon and saw the “diamond ring” on both sides of the moon! The eclipse was truly life-changing for me. I went into the zone of totality and once the sun was covered, you realize how much energy the sun really does put out – the temperature dropped, the street and car lights turned on and you could see radiation waves on the pavement. The solar eclipse was an awe-inspiring experience as to how amazing our Earth is.
This week is going to be so crazy but I am so excited about the future and can’t wait to see how this year goes! I’ll keep you posted on my year right here!
